ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the preservation of South African rugby has changed from small-scale, intimate collections of rugby memorabilia to commercialized forms of preservation in the professional era. It concerns the tangible aspects of South Africa's rugby heritage as they are portrayed in community and corporate rugby museums. The chapter draws attention to the commercial nature of sports heritage initiatives, such as the Springbok Experience museum. It also shows how, despite the best attempts of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to depict an inclusive rugby heritage in the country, the politics of how 'to make Jerseys speak' is a complex practice. The symbolic display of the handprints of former captains of both South African Rugby Football Federation (SARFF) and SARU was perhaps relevant for representing a 'unified' heritage for present-day purposes, but it opportunely overlooked the very different political agendas of these two groups.
